pac-man? that’s pac-gentleman to you on [technabob]

pac-man? that’s pac-gentleman to you

filed under: geek art & craft | retro | video games

posted: November 1st, 2007 17 comments author: technabob

This custom made toy by artist/sculptor Doktor A is a wondrous tribute to the classic arcade game, Pac-Man.

Doktor A’s Pac Gentleman

The one-of-a-kind sculptural toy is entitled “The Secret History of Video Games: Pac Gentleman”. It almost reads like a steampunk version of the 1980s dot-muncher, what with its crank-driven game play and wooden and metallic accents.

Doktor A’s Pac Gentleman

The good Doktor explains the Pac Gentleman game as follows:

“When this game was first released in 1880 it was so hugely popular in taverns and inns that the bank of England was forced to mint more threepenny bits to keep up with demand. The game was created by messrs Nam & Nam and Co. as a novelty pastime for the masses. Outdoing the previous top public house game of Shove Ha’penny. “

Brilliant.

Doktor A’s work is being shown as part of the Spit & Polish toy show at Cardboard Spaceship in Santa Cruz, CA. The show runs from now through November 31 (whoops, that’s 30th), 2007.

[via Urban Retro Lifestyle (thanks, Tahir!) ]

17 comments comment

1. gigi | November 1st, 2007 at 10:41 pm

that is very cool!
2. gigi | November 1st, 2007 at 10:48 pm

okay, i just read the artist’s quote, and that $*!& is HILARIOUS.

sheer genius! ahahahaha
3. jay vaughan | November 2nd, 2007 at 10:58 am

yawn. its a sculpture, not a toy. it doesn’t, actually, work!
4. Andrew C. | November 2nd, 2007 at 11:03 am

This reminds me so completely of the old wind-up pocket games made by Tomy back in the 70s and 80s: http://www.masters.me.uk/pocketeers/ . The case of this is nicer though.
5. Bogey | November 2nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm

> The show runs from now through November 31, 2007.

Welcome back my friends, to the show that NEVER ends!
6. laowaitattle | November 2nd, 2007 at 1:47 pm

Great concept….shall we see the same idea soon applied to the Ipod and Iphone?
7. Ed T. | November 2nd, 2007 at 2:47 pm

@#3-Jay Vaughan: (Pssst, it’s not really from the late 1800s and is in fact, just an art piece.)
8. halfsquatch | November 2nd, 2007 at 3:30 pm

How big is it? I’d like to see a point of reference to see its scale.
9. Doktor A | November 2nd, 2007 at 4:05 pm

Hello Doktor A here!
Thanks for posting this

The Pac Gent is part of my solo art-toy show at Cardboard Spaceship in Santa Cruz.

The show opened Halloween and runs until Nov 31st. All the pieces can be seen on the Kidrobot forum here http://forums.kidrobot.com/viewtopic.php?t=85859

This is a custom of a toy called a “Soopa coin-op Bros” by Erick Scarecrow. Its about 9″ tall.

And I think a working version would be feasible. The ghosts and Pacman are on different levels so can pass behind one another. In reality they would need to be more flattened to work well but as this is a mock up I let a bit of artistic freedom creep in. The ghosts are blue on their reverse side and would swing around when vunerable (using the static moustach as a brace). The pills would be pinned balls which rotated 180 degrees from a yellow side to a black side when passed over, each pinging a tiny bell as it did so.

You can see my other work at http://www.spookypop.com No more video games (well there is a SNES made into a backpack), but LOTS of Steampunk…
10. technabob | November 2nd, 2007 at 4:11 pm

I guess November 31st isn’t a real date. But that’s what the promotional material said, so go figure.
11. Eric | November 2nd, 2007 at 6:56 pm

why does it have a giant red button?
12. waypoints | November 2nd, 2007 at 8:36 pm

gorgeous
13. roadside scholar&hellip | November 2nd, 2007 at 11:09 pm

pac-gentleman sculpture…

look at the wonderful details on this crazy steampunk “pac-gentleman” sculpture from uk artist doktor a. this description written by the artist says all ye need to know about this 9″ wonder:
“when this game was first released in 188…
14. sven | November 5th, 2007 at 6:13 pm

@Eric
To interrupt the game for a cup of tea, I assume
15. Doktor A | November 6th, 2007 at 1:49 pm

Don’t you just find that things are generally better with a giant red button?
Thanks for the great comments fellows..
16. Jeff | November 8th, 2007 at 1:43 pm

I think I could give a convincing function for the giant red button - start. There will be a period of time when you finish cranking the crank (which I would presume is tensioning a spring powered mechanism or somesuch) and are moving to the controls. The red button could keep the machine from springing into action until you are ready to start.
17. Rosie | November 28th, 2007 at 7:17 am

oh my god wow! this is so amazing i want it for christmas!!!